wilderivywander

I applied there and Penn GSE (which I know I didn't get in to because I didn't get an invite for the doctoral interview weekend). Also applied to UMich, Cornell, NYU, JHU and a few others. As soon as the rejection letters start flowing in I'll change my signature to reflect my battle scars.

WAIT WHAT?! They sent out information about that program already? Jeez that's not good news for me then ? and I had an interview and everything wow.......... I hope you get in off the waitlist @jetsetter

I'll PM you.

Morning friends! Is anyone on this thread interested in the sociology of education?

Greetings! I interviewed with a POI from Yale on February 4th, before I got an account with grad cafe. I am hesitant to say give up hope though because I don't know if they operate like others (in that you're only accepted if you get an interview). I'm not sure what their status is in terms of decision making. The POI gave me a vague answer about students hearing back "in a few weeks".

Y'ALLL!!!! These sociology admissions committees woke up today and chose....VIOLENCE ??. I'm laughing but I'm crying on the inside. I hope people in the thread are holding on to hope in the midst of mass rejections. This is tough, but we are tougher. And I promise I'm not always this hunky dory happy and optimistic lol. I'm not detached from reality. I actually woke up this morning in a very weird emotional state. Tears, questions and all. But I feel compelled to hope against hope because I truly believe that things work out exactly as they need to in the end. So I'm signing off for the day, but I just wanted to share that today happened, it was hard for some of us, but tomorrow is a new day! Even if it doesn't happen for me, I most certainly hope that pleasant surprises in this admission cycle happen for someone in this thread that is still hoping against hope ❤️

I'm just going to hop on the encouragement gravy train and say that you are definitely entitled to feel however you want to feel about this cycle AND ALSO remember that YOU are the success, the secret sauce and the determining WOW/IT factor in your career. I know as aspiring sociologists we look a lot at structural/societal factors and constraints, but I just want to remind you of your individual agency and no matter where you end up, as long as you don't lose sight of who you are, what you are capable of and your personal vision for your career, I truly and totally believe you will be a smashing success (whatever you define success as). This cycle definitely sucks, and it is painful to apply to so many places and receive so little in return and I do believe in processing our feelings (it's your admissions cycle and you can cry if you want to!). But I also hope that when the pain has cleared from your eyes, you remember everything that you bring to the field. In this journey, you are the hero, and you're going to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way, rejection be damned.

So I had no idea gradcafe limits how many times you can react to posts in a day ?, so I was over here trying to like your post and it wouldn't let me ?. In any case, I just wanted to say that I very much relate to this desire to change academia or shake things up from the inside out. I keep thinking about some of the insights from Julia Posselt's book about graduate admissions, and some anecdotes from PhD turned professor friends and I'm honestly disheartened by the inequity within higher ed admissions. But my discouragement is driving me towards danger rather than away from it, go figure lol. I will definitely take you up on your offer though.

WHEWWWWW???? you are a whole powerhouse!!!!!!!! I have no idea where you'll end up, but I hope it's somewhere fantastic because your research interests are important and your skill set is so needed (accommodating or not ?). I appreciate the pro-tip and look forward to reading some of your work some day! I already feel like I could learn a lot from you. It's amazing how some of these adcomms aren't on the same wavelength ?. The blindness and gatekeeping sometimes makes me feel like starting a college or university lol. But only when I'm feeling especially silly and salty ?.

Ah I see. My mistake and apologies for misinterpreting. Honestly I want to affirm you and encourage you to dig deeper into that. For me, I know that my background (I'm Nigerian) is such that I was raised to be super competitive, hypercritical, and I've been socialized to believe that I'm deficient when I'm not achieving and not outwardly "succeeding". So I'm in a process of unlearning and relearning. And it's honestly helped me be less neurotic this admissions cycle than I would have been at any other time in my life. I meant what I said when I said I hope you see the awesomeness and brilliance within yourself. And I really do hope you experience pleasant surprises this circle. I am rooting for you Toyo!

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution sound very compelling and also very useful considering our current climate. I've taken one negotiation class and realized very quickly that I suck at it ??. I also find it great that you have been able to use the tools and knowledge you've developed to consult and do facilitation work on the side. You have extra income, more flexibility and these grad schools can't bluff you. I love it. Would you say your research interests are more aligned with social/organizational psychology or are you doing a 180 from your master's?

I'm glad you mentioned this. I think it's important to understand that this application process is very personal and we are all navigating our own insecurities, struggles and hopes during this time. For the record, I am the person who stated that it's Stanford's loss for not accepting me. To feel confident in my abilities and my value-add to their cohort and to also reflect on how I could have done better are not mutually exclusive. It's important that we aren't quick to jump to conclusions about people's attitudes, confidence levels or circumstances because truth be told, you weren't with me when I cried my eyes out during this admissions cycle. You weren't with me on days that I struggled through self-hatred and self-doubt. I'm grateful that I am finally at a point where I recognize, HEY I AM AWESOME! And maybe Stanford can't see that, but someone else will. In any case Toyo, I wish you all the best, and however your admissions cycle turns out, I hope that you will be confident in your awesomeness and in the brilliance you bring to whatever cohort you enter. Because you need to be unshakeable in that. Grad school is hard enough. Cheers!

I have two actually. Don't be intimidated. I think as long as you have humility, open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity, it won't matter whether you have a master's or not. One thing I will say is that real life experience outside of academia is incredibly enriching. I worked during my first master's and did a practicum experience during my second and it's informed my future research interests a ton. Not to mention it's given me a lot of perspective that's helped ground me during the...CRAZIEST ADMISSIONS CYCLE EVER ?

Finally got the Stanford rejection email LOL. They apparently only accepted 7 people this year. Shout out to all those who were accepted. Hoping for the best for everyone else who is still waiting.

Mannnnn if I got accepted by Stanford my admissions season would be over. Shoot. ? But instead they want to play games. Like if you're going to send acceptances, send the rejections too sheesh. We deserve to be respected even though we're rejected. Simple courtesy. Isn't it like a click of a button or whatever? ?‍♀️